“I had travelled by about half-a-dozen trains by 2 AC and 3 AC coaches during the last two months and the common thing I found in all these trains was the lack of Railway Protection Force (RPF) constables even during night journeys,” says Kanchumurthy Eswar, secretary, Duvvada Railway Users’ Association.These include: from Secunderabad to Shirdi by 17064 (Ajanta Express) on February 23 in the 3 AC coach and return by 18504 Sai Nagar Shirdi to Duvvada by 3 AC on February 26. Train no. 22643 Patna Express from Visakhapatnam to Asansol by 2 AC on March 2 and returned by 3 AC on March 16. “The non-availability of RPF personnel even on long journey night journey trains is distressing. Passengers, especially...more...

women and senior citizens, are afraid to travel in night trains due to this.The telephone numbers of RPF constables on duty should also be displayed in the coaches so that passengers need not run from coach to coach looking for them,” Mr. Eswar wrote to the Ministry of Railways, which had sought suggestions from passengers on RPF corruption.“I travelled by the 3 AC coach in the 22802 Chennai – Visakhapatnam Express, which arrived in Visakhapatnam at 11.40 a.m. on Sunday. When I boarded the coach, the AC was not working. My co-passengers thought that the AC would be switched on after the train started. I tweeted about the problem and an attendant came after a few hours (near Gudur) and switched on the AC,” says Aditya of Chennai.“The train moved at a snail’s pace at NAD Junction and many of the passengers alighted. It reached the Kancharapalem outer signal around 7.15 a.m. Some of the passengers alighted there. At 11.29 a.m., I too alighted to save my time by catching an autorickshaw at the road point.”“I immediately checked the running status of the train on my mobile and to my surprise I found that the railways had shown that the actual/expected arrival of the train at Visakhapatnam as 11.19 a.m. (with a delay of 19 minutes), even as it was at the outer signal,” he said. It was shown in the same screen below that the train departed Gopalapatnam at 11.06 a.m. and it was only 6 km to go.

“I had travelled by about half-a-dozen trains by 2 AC and 3 AC coaches during the last two months and the common thing I found in all these trains was the lack of Railway Protection Force (RPF) constables even during night journeys,” says Kanchumurthy Eswar, secretary, Duvvada Railway Users’ Association.These include: from Secunderabad to Shirdi by 17064 (Ajanta Express) on February 23 in the 3 AC coach and return by 18504 Sai Nagar Shirdi to Duvvada by 3 AC on February 26. Train no. 22643 Patna Express from Visakhapatnam to Asansol by 2 AC on March 2 and returned by 3 AC on March 16. “The non-availability of RPF personnel even on long journey night journey trains is distressing. Passengers, especially...more...

women and senior citizens, are afraid to travel in night trains due to this.The telephone numbers of RPF constables on duty should also be displayed in the coaches so that passengers need not run from coach to coach looking for them,” Mr. Eswar wrote to the Ministry of Railways, which had sought suggestions from passengers on RPF corruption.“I travelled by the 3 AC coach in the 22802 Chennai – Visakhapatnam Express, which arrived in Visakhapatnam at 11.40 a.m. on Sunday. When I boarded the coach, the AC was not working. My co-passengers thought that the AC would be switched on after the train started. I tweeted about the problem and an attendant came after a few hours (near Gudur) and switched on the AC,” says Aditya of Chennai.“The train moved at a snail’s pace at NAD Junction and many of the passengers alighted. It reached the Kancharapalem outer signal around 7.15 a.m. Some of the passengers alighted there. At 11.29 a.m., I too alighted to save my time by catching an autorickshaw at the road point.”“I immediately checked the running status of the train on my mobile and to my surprise I found that the railways had shown that the actual/expected arrival of the train at Visakhapatnam as 11.19 a.m. (with a delay of 19 minutes), even as it was at the outer signal,” he said. It was shown in the same screen below that the train departed Gopalapatnam at 11.06 a.m. and it was only 6 km to go.Reporting By B. Madhu Gopal

AirAsia has come out with a big sale on its domestic and international routes. The domestic and international promotional fares start from as low as Rs. 1,099 and Rs. 2,999.The seats can be booked till March 13, 2016 on the airline’s website airasia.com as well as the mobile site: mobile.airasia.com for the travel period from October 1, 2016 to May 22, 2017.The domestic destinations include Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Kochi, Imphal, Goa and Delhi connected by Air Asia India.The...more...

promotional fares to Kuala Lumpur are applicable Kochi, Chennai or Hyderabad, connected by Air Asia’s group airline AirAsia Berhad, according to a press released.Passengers can fly to Bangkok from Chennai and Bengaluru, connected by Thai AirAsia for fares starting from Rs.3,999 and further to Singapore for Rs.4,299 via Kuala Lumpur with AirAsia Berhad.“Passengers can also take advantage of the ‘Fly-Thru’ service to connect to destinations such as Auckland, Sapporo, Tokyo, Gold Coast and Sydney,” according to AirAsia’s group chief commercial officer Siegtraund Teh.The train timings board (w.e.f. Oct 1, 2015) located near the booking office of the Tadepalligudem Railway Station wrongly shows the timing of the Hyderabad – Visakhapatnam Godavari Express as 4.39 a.m. (early hours) as against its scheduled arrival at 00.41 a.m. (past midnight).An employee at the Booking Office sounded as though it was no big deal when an alert passenger Ch. Srinivasa Rao of Visakhapatnam brought the error to his notice a couple of weeks ago.“I was shocked at his casual attitude. Passengers who go by that board are sure to miss their train,” says Mr. Srinivasa Rao, who has captured a picture of the board on his mobile phone.“I travelled with my family from Duvvada to Shirdi via Secunderabad on February 21 due to non-availability of a direct train on that day. The width of the berth in the 3 AC coach in 17064 Ajanta Express was very less and was uncomfortable to sleep.There were a lot of jerks1 and sounds each time the train stopped and started. The South Central Railway (SCR) authorities gave an SMS reply, to my complaint, saying that the ‘train is fitted with CBC couplers, however advised CDO/SC for corrective action during maintenance. Inconvenience caused is regretted’. There was no pantry car and RPF/security was not available in this night journey train,” says K. Eswar, secretary of Duvvada Railway User’s Association.There was no pantry car and security/RPF on 18504 (Sainagar Shirdi-Visakhapatnam) though it was also a night train. We returned to Duvvada by that train on February 26.There was no tissue paper and fans were not functioning in the toilet.“We alighted at Duvvada Railway Station at 9.45 p.m. Coach indication boards and high mast lights were not working. Passengers had to pay through their nose to autorickshaw drivers in the absence of a pre-paid auto parking stand. We paid Rs.60 for the ½ km distance from PF-4 side to Vudanagar Phase-1.”“I have a few suggestions to make. The Visakhapatnam-SNSI starts at 9.05 a.m. on Thursdays and reaches Shirdi at 12.15 p.m. on Friday and it will start from Shirdi at 7.15 p.m. the same day. Devotees who wish to return by the same train are unable to do so as it would be difficult to complete the pilgrimage in such a short time. This train is running to full capacity from Visakhapatnam and Shirdi and the railway authorities should make it a daily train. The average speed should be increased and the travel time should be decreased,” adds Mr. Eswar.(Reporting By B. Madhu Gopal)

bhai saab, ask mantri ji that when will he start much awaited ap ac express, empty new coaches are waiting for him at BZA. let him give clarification on this. Vijayawada has only 02 (R) 02 AC III berths from NZM MAS Rajdhani. Fun of IND RAILWAYS on this. Although AP MPs are nalaks of India still hoping central minister do some favour to AP. which was thrown in garbage by UPA.

One First AC cum AC Two Tier Coach and o­ne Sleeper Class Coach will be replaced with One First AC Coach and o­ne AC II Tier Coachwith effect from 20th March, 2014.

Train No. 12737 Kakinada Port - Secunderabad Gautami Express:-

One Sleeper Class Coach will be replaced with One AC II Tier Coachwith effect from 19th March, 2014 and o­ne First AC cum AC Two Tier Coach will be replaced with One First AC Coach with effect from 21st March, 2014.

The revised composition of Train No’s 12738/12737 Secunderabad-Kakinada Port – Secunderabad Gautami Express will comprise of o­ne First AC, two AC II Tier, two AC III Tier, fourteen Sleeper Class, three General Second Class and two Second class Luggage cum Brake van Coaches totaling to 24 coaches from the said dates (direction wise).

2) Train No. 17064 Secunderabad – Manmad Ajantha Express :-

Two Sleeper Class Coaches will be replaced with One First AC cum AC II Tier coach and o­ne AC II Tier coach with effect from 20th March, 2014.

One First AC cum AC Two Tier Coach and o­ne Sleeper Class Coach will be replaced with One First AC Coach and o­ne AC II Tier Coachwith effect from 20th March, 2014.

Train No. 12737 Kakinada Port - Secunderabad Gautami Express:-

One Sleeper Class Coach will be replaced with One AC II Tier Coachwith effect from 19th March, 2014 and o­ne First AC cum AC Two Tier Coach will be replaced with One First AC Coach with effect from 21st March, 2014.

The revised composition of Train No’s 12738/12737 Secunderabad-Kakinada Port – Secunderabad Gautami Express will comprise of o­ne First AC, two AC II Tier, two AC III Tier, fourteen Sleeper Class, three General Second Class and two Second class Luggage cum Brake van Coaches totaling to 24 coaches from the said dates (direction wise).

2) Train No. 17064 Secunderabad – Manmad Ajantha Express :-

Two Sleeper Class Coaches will be replaced with One First AC cum AC II Tier coach and o­ne AC II Tier coach with effect from 20th March, 2014.